Help choosing next piano

Hi,

I've got Pianoteq 8 Pro with the Steinways, Bechstein and Bluethner. I'm thinking about picking a new piano.

I don't like the Steinways much, they sound a bit plasticky. I didn't like them when I got Pianoteq, but I was hoping that they'd be revoiced and improved in the long-term.

I don't use the Bechstein. While I like certain aspects of it (the bass), it's too bright and I've grown fussy towards bright pianos.

I only use the Bluethner, which I like, but the treble is quite bright (or rather resonant) as well and it sounds a bit nasal. It's great overall and still my favourite of the "old" models.

I'm not quite sure what new piano to get. I've tried the Bösendorfer and the Kawai on the demo. I think I like the Bosie more (also on the demos on the site). It's a shame because I'm partial to (real) Shigeru's, but there's something on this Kawai that doesn't quite click. Am I missing something? Which one do you folks prefer?

I'm not into smaller pianos, which would be a good choice. I don't particularly like the Steinway B (and I have another 2 Steinways already), I'm not a big fan of acoustic Steinways either. And I wouldn't get the U4 as I wouldn't make use of it.

Any other ideas? I think my choice should be between the Bösendorfer and the Kawai. I'm also happy to skip a forth grand given I only play 1 out of the 3 (4 if you count the 2 Steinways). I really like historical instruments (Ruckers was my forth pack without any hesitation) but I'm more into Debussy and Scriabin these days, so I don't make the most of it, and there are some free historical instruments anyway (KIViR).

srodrigo wrote:

Hi,

I've got Pianoteq 8 Pro with the Steinways, Bechstein and Bluethner. I'm thinking about picking a new piano.

I don't like the Steinways much, they sound a bit plasticky. I didn't like them when I got Pianoteq, but I was hoping that they'd be revoiced and improved in the long-term.

I don't use the Bechstein. While I like certain aspects of it (the bass), it's too bright and I've grown fussy towards bright pianos.

I only use the Bluethner, which I like, but the treble is quite bright (or rather resonant) as well and it sounds a bit nasal. It's great overall and still my favourite of the "old" models.

I'm not quite sure what new piano to get. I've tried the Bösendorfer and the Kawai on the demo. I think I like the Bosie more (also on the demos on the site). It's a shame because I'm partial to (real) Shigeru's, but there's something on this Kawai that doesn't quite click. Am I missing something? Which one do you folks prefer?

I'm not into smaller pianos, which would be a good choice. I don't particularly like the Steinway B (and I have another 2 Steinways already), I'm not a big fan of acoustic Steinways either. And I wouldn't get the U4 as I wouldn't make use of it.

Any other ideas? I think my choice should be between the Bösendorfer and the Kawai. I'm also happy to skip a forth grand given I only play 1 out of the 3 (4 if you count the 2 Steinways). I really like historical instruments (Ruckers was my forth pack without any hesitation) but I'm more into Debussy and Scriabin these days, so I don't make the most of it, and there are some free historical instruments anyway (KIViR).

I think Kawai is their overall best - try more of the presets like heroic

srodrigo wrote:

Does anyone know if Modartt rework older pianos? My feeling is that the new ones sound better because they make use of the latest advancements whereas the older pianos are revoiced but don't get to improve as much.

They do. In version 7.5 NY Steinway D, HB Steinway D, Steinway B, Ant. Petrof, Petrof Mistral, C. Bechstein DG, Steingraeber, Blüthner have been revoiced.  So maybe there will be an intermediary 8.5 version with older pianos benefiting from latest improvements that took place with the Bosendorfer 280 VC & Kawai Shigaru or may that will be part of version 9. Just  guessing of course,

Yeah, I'd say the Bosendorfer is for you; it rounds out the characters in your collection and is very satisfying to play, depending on repertoire

Btw I did a similar exploration a while ago, have a read in case it's useful https://forum.modartt.com/viewtopic.php?id=12507

I'm interested in the "hissing" you described, because you mentioned that you really like the Bluthner, whereas I bounced off its metallic overtones that one might also describe as "too much hiss", but I didn't experience anything like that in the Kawai (which I'd describe as the best all-rounder). Can you tell me more about the hissing and how it manifests?

srodrigo wrote:

I've noticed the hissing on the upper-middle register (5-6th octave) on the Kawai, it was very pronounced for me. EDIT: I was using the Ryuyo preset.

Aah, I think I know what you mean - there's this "whooshing" sound effect (like white noise or wind) that you can hear clearly after playing a loud staccato note in that register (it appears to billow up after the note decay). It's pronounced on the Kawai and the steinway NY, and though present in the Bechstein, that one peaks at a lower frequency so sounds less noisy. Incidentally that was one of the details that pushed me towards the Steingraeber.

I believe this is the resonance from the hammer noise (which is different in each model). Do you find that adjusting the hammer noise slider makes this hiss better/worse? If so, this might be the cure for the problems you see with the Kawai

Nah, the Kawai still doesn't sounds good to me no matter what I do. Some of the hissing goes away if I set the reverb to Jazz Studio. I think I'll stick to the Bosendorfer.

srodrigo wrote:

Nah, the Kawai still doesn't sound good to me no matter what I do. Some of the hissing goes away if I set the reverb to Jazz Studio. I think I'll stick to the Bosendorfer.

Before you commit - one final thing to do is try all the ways you will likely play through in the future. Different headphones for example make a huge difference in the sound.

So much so that it’s important to have different models just for being able to accommodate different playback systems.

At least in my experience.